Machine for cutting tobacco and the like



July 21; 1953 P. Q. R. SCHREIBER 2,646,095 MACHINE FOR CUTTING TOBACCO AND .THE LTKE Filed March 22, 195o 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A ttorhey July 2l, 1953 P. Q. R. SCHREIBER MACHINE FOR CUTTING TOBACCO AND THE LIKE Filed March 22, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/GS' .4 s' im man By A horney July 21,11953 P. Q. R. -scHRElBER 2,646,095

MACHINE FOR CUTTING TOBACCQAND THE LIKE I Filed March 22. 1950 `4 Sheets-Sheet 3 l In lInventor /5 ,6% l /8 IO A ttorney July 2l, 1953 P. Q. R. scHRElBl-:R

MACHINE TOR CUTTING ToBAcco AND THE: LINE Filed March 22. 195o 4 Sheets-Sheet Invenior vom SCA/REISE?) A ttorney f chine Patented July 2l, 1953 MACHINE Fon CUTTING TOBACCO AND THE LIKE Y Patrick Quintin Robert Schreiber, London, England, assignor to Robert Legg Limited, London,

England, a British company Application March 22, 1950, `Serial No. 151,071 f In Great Britain March 24, 1949 v 8 Claims. (Cl. 14d-119) This invention relates to machines for cuttingVl leaf tobacco.

In tobacco-cutting machines itis customary in the course of the rotation of the cutter drum.

for the uncut tobacco to be fed to a mouthpiece by means `such as two converging endless bands so that'the tobacco is compressed as it passes through the mouthpiece. At the outlet side of the mouthpiece thin slices of the compressed tobacco are cut oi. There are many advantages attaching to the use of rotary machines in which a cutter in thev form of a drum rotates in front of the mouthpiece. Such a cutter can carry a Y plurality of knives, each |as a general rule hav- -ing its cutting edge substantially parallel to the axis of rotation, so that the machine cuts a plurality of slices of 'tobacco in each revolution and the output is therefore high. Now, as each Vknife is on the drum, a pocket must be provided in the drum to accommodate the slice of tobacco as it is cut by the knife. Thetobacco is carried clear of the mouthpiece bythe pockets and carried onwards in them during the` continued rotation of the cutter.v It then becomes necessary to remove the tobacco'from each pocket, and the means used for this purpose hitherto are notV altogether satisfactory. K Y Y It is an object of the' present invention to provide means for positively ejecting cut tobacco from a pocket in'a rotary cutter.

It is another object to provide mechanical' means by which 'cut tobacco is pushed out of the pockets of aprotary tobacco cutter.

It isa further object to providemeans for setting up lstreams of air to carry cut tobacco out of the'pockets. y

"It is' yet a further object to prevent pieces of cut tobacco from escaping into the atmosphere around the machine or hindering operation o f they apparatus.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of the preferred embodiment, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings. yIn these drawings: i

Figure l is a side elevation of the complete ma- Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of part of the machine on a larger scale viewed from the other side;y 1 l. Figurev 3 is an end elevation of the machine in sectionon the line III-111m Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view of part of Figure 2 on a still larger scale; f

Figure 5 is a detail of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a perspective viewof an ejector bar and associated mechanism.

The ejector bars and associated mechanism which appear in Figures 4 to 6 are for clarity omitted fromFigures 2 and 3, .i l

YBroadly stated, Ihave discovered thatgvthe cui;

lil

tobacco can' be ejected positively from each pocket bymaking the bottom of the pocket movablevand actuating it by a cam or the equivalent In the apparatus shown in Figs. land 2, to.

bacco is fed to a space 2 between two conveyors i and 6 by which vit is carried to a mouthpiece 8 and is at the `same time compressed. Opposite the mouthpiece there is a rotary cutter in the form of a hollow drum i2 having a plurality of knives It mounted around its circumference,

V each knifebeing arranged with its cutting edge ai v substantially parallel' to the axis of'the drum. Each Vknife in turn sweeps across the outlet fromv the mouthpiece and cuts the tobacco which is protruding from,y the mouthpiece. In consequence, a succession of thin slices is cut, and each slice enters apocket l5 formed in the drum yl2 beneath the knife by which it is cut. The

innerand outer walls l5 and I1 of each pocket lare parts of the concentric cylinders, the outer lwall ll meeting the'plane .of the underside of the knife It at a small angle` I'his is best illustrated in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. Each slice of tobacco tends toY disintegrateV into shreds, and these shreds are urged centrifugally against the outer wall l1 and are retained in the pocket by friction against this Wall until they are positively ejected after the drum l2 has rotated through abo-ut'ili".v

The ejection is primarily effected by making the bottom or base of each pocket movable. For

. example, see Figs. 4; '5 and 6. Thus, the base of `each pocket l5` consists of a bar I8, having its ends connected by links 2i! to cranks 22 and 23 on each end of a shaft 2li. Turning of this shaft causes the bar to move and eject tobacco from the pocket. Each crank 22 carries a roller 25 which is held in Contact with a fixed cam 28 by a spring 3Q. This cam is mainly concentric with the drum l2, but is deformed at its lower part to cause downward ejection of tobacco after it has been cut.

' It is possible to dispense with the springs t and provide a cam groove with which the rollers z'engage.

Thel tobacco when ejected enters al hood 32,

n which encases the lower part of the cutter drumy v l2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The hood merges into a duct 3d which leads to a settling chamber 11343,f Fig. Lto which a fan 38 is connected. This fan'maintains a partial vacuum within the hood 32 and so rair tends to ow outwards through the pockets into the hood. To permit this flow each bar I6 is made narrower than the distance between walls l and H, and since it is free to swing on the links 2D, the bar moves centrifugally across the pocket into contact with the wall l?, so leaving a clearance 35 between it and' the inner wall. This is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus the bar scrapes the wall Il during ejection and at the same time air can iiow outwards through the pocket carrying with it any small particles of tobacco not ejected by the bar alone. Thus, the pocket is cleared of tobacco and particles are prevented from jamming between the bar and the walls of the pocket. Moreover, clearance 37 is deliberately left between the hood and the surface of the drum I2, so that. air ows inwards at this point. This ensures that tobacco does not escape into the atmosphere or remain adhering to the surface of the drum.

The part-circular shape of the pocketsv presents several advantages. It allows the mechanism for moving the ejector bar to take the simple form shown, whereas if the pockets were straight the mechanism would have to be more complicated. It is easier to connect the mouth of the pocket to the inside of the drum by a part-circular pocket than by a straight pocket, bearing in mind that at the mouth the pocket must make only a small angle with the knife. Moreover, tobacco would tend to pass right through a straight pocket into the interior of the drum.

In the hollow interior of the drum i2 there is a duct 39, see Figs. 2, 3 and 4, which communicates only with the pockets which are within the hood 32.V This prevents suction being set up within the remainder of the interior of the drum and drawing tobacco inwards through the pockets which are facing upwards. Air from the atmosphere enters the ductv 39 at 40 through a hollow stub axle 42 of the drum I2..

Tobacco carried into the hood 32 falls into the duct 34 and is carried either by the air stream or by a conveyor 44 into the settling chamber 36. 46 by which it is carried away from the machine.

It is not necessary for the cutting edges of the knives i0 to be exactly parallel to the axis of the drum l2, and they may if desired lie, for example, on a helix. In the example shown, the cutting edges are in fact on a very coarse helix so that the knives engage the tobacco progressively at each cut.

Iclaim:

1. In a tobacco cutting machine, in combination, a, mouthpiece, means for feeding tobaccoV to said mouthpiece to protrudeV therefrom, hollow rotary cutting means adapted to out said protruding tobacco into successive slices, walls in said cutting means deiining a pocket adapted to receive a cut slice and communicating with the hollow interior of said cutting means, mechanical means including a member movable toward the mouth of said pocket to eject said cut slice when said pocket is clear of said mouthpiece, said member being of less width than said pocket and also movable freely transversely in said pocket to scrape against one wall thereof and leave a clearance from the opposite wall thereof, and means for applying suction to said mouth during movement of said member toward said mouth to cause air to flow through said clearance to assist ejection of said cut slice.

2. In a tobacco cutting machine, in combination, a mouthpiece, means for feeding tobacco Here all the tobacco settles cn a conveyor to said mouthpiece to protrude. therefrom, a drum mounted to rotate in front of said mouthpiece and carrying knives which extend in the direction of the axis of said drum and are adapted to cut said protruding tobacco into successive slices, walls in said drum defining a pocket adapted to receive a, cut slice and extending outwardly from the central portion of said drum and terminating beneath the cutting edge of each of said knives, and mechanical means including a member movable toward the mouth of said pocket to eject said out slice when said pocket is clear of said mouthpiece, said member being also movable freely transversely to the ejecting movement in said pocket to scrape against the outer of said walls during movement toward said mouth and thereby dislodge any tobacco adhering to said walls and eject said dislodged tobacco with said cut slice.

3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, in which the walls of each pocket are surfaces of concentric cylinders.

4. An arrangement as set forth in claim 3, in which the outer wall of said pocket intersects the plane of the underside of said knife at a small angle.

5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 4, in which the angle is 10.

6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, and rods bearing a crank at each end and links connecting said cranks tothe ends of said member, whereby oscillation of said rod causes `said member to move to and from the mouth of said pocket.

7. An arrangement as set forth in claim 6, a fixed cam and a roller on one crank of said rod, with said roller bearing on said cam.

8. In a tobacco cutting machine, in combination, a mouthpiece, means for feeding tobacco to said mouthpiece to protrude therefrom, a hoilow drum mounted to rotate in front of said mouthpiece and carrying knives which extend in the direction of the axis of said drum and are adapted to cut said protruding tobacco into successive slices, walls in said drum defining a pocket extending from beneath the cutting edge of each of said knives to the hollow interior of said drum, a stationary hood surrounding an arc only of the exterior of said drum clear of said mouthpiece, means for maintaining a partial vacuum within said hood, and a stationary duct within said hollow interior adapted to connect those only of said pockets which are surrounded by said hood to atmosphere independently ofr the remainder of said pockets, whereby an air current is caused to flow outwards through the pockets surrounded by said hood while no current hows through the remainder.

PATRICK QUINTIN ROBERT SCHREBER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 41,963 Miller et al Mar. l5, 1864 192,208 Wilson June 19, 1877 579,306 Perkins Mar. 23, 1897 2,464,896 Schreiber Mar. 22, 1949 2,496,468 Hanson Feb. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 48,041 Netherlands Feb. 17, 1940 297,066 Great Britain Sept. 14, 1928 604,791 Great Britain July 9. 1948 

